BELAC 2-405-FSMS Rev 1-2017 SPECIFIC PROVISIONS FOR THE ACCREDITATION OF CERTIFICATION BODIES IN THE FIELD OF FOOD SAFETY MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS The only valid versions of the documents of the BELAC management system are those available from the internet website (www.belac.fgov.be). Applicable from: 14.03.2017 BELAC 2-405-FSMS Rev 1-2017 - 1/8
BELAC 2-405-FSMS Rev 1-2017 - 2/8
0 Revision and date of approval CC 22.01.2015 DOCUMENT HISTORY Reason for revision New document - Formal integration of EA-3/11 Rev 00 in the management system documentation of BELAC Impact of revision 1 Sec 14.03.2017 A formal reference to IAF MD16 (Application of ISO/IEC 17011 for the accreditation of FSMS Certification bodies) has been introduced, without significant change to the content of the document No significant change of the content BELAC 2-405-FSMS Rev 1-2017 - 3/8
SPECIFIC PROVISIONS FOR THE ACCREDITATION OF CERTIFI- CATION BODIES IN THE FIELD OF FOOD SAFETY MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS 1. OBJECTIVES AND RERENCES TO NORMATIVE DOCUMENTS This document is intended to document the specific requirements and guidelines that shall apply for the accreditation of certification bodies in the field of food safety management systems (such as ISO 22000). It includes in particular: The specific requirements and guidelines related to the organization and operation of the certification body; The specific requirements and guidelines applicable to BELAC. The specific requirements and guidelines for the direct performance of the conformity assessment activities are not detailed in the present document but a reference to the relevant documents is included. The specific requirements and guidelines are only endorsed when they comply with the general criteria documented in BELAC document 1-03; complement the requirements and guidelines that are in force to all BELAC accreditation activities. 2. RECIPIENTS With follow up of modifications: - Members of the Coordination Commission - Members of the Accreditation Board - Accreditation secretariat - Assessors and experts - Accredited bodies Without follow up of the modifications: Any external request BELAC 2-405-FSMS Rev 1-2017 - 4/8
3. DESCRIPTION OF THE ACTIVITY 3.1 Identification of the activity FSMS 3.2 Type(s) of conformity assessment and accreditation standard 3.3 Classification(s) according to BELAC 6-017 3.4 Reference document(s) for the activity (hereafter named the scheme ), including the publication date or a version number Certification of quality management system according to ISO 22000 Accreditation according to EN ISO 17021:2011 (until 15.06.2017) or EN ISO/IEC 17021-1:2015 + ISO/TS 22003:2013 7.2 ISO 22000:2005 EA-3/11 Rev 00 : 2009 IAF MD 16:2015 3.5 Body responsible for the development and maintenance of the scheme (hereafter named «the scheme owner» ) ISO BELAC 2-405-FSMS Rev 1-2017 - 5/8
4. SPECIFIC REQUIREMENTS APPLICABLE TO THE CON- FORMITY ASSESSMENT BODY During the accreditation assessments according to EN ISO/IEC 17021:2011 (until 15.06.2017) or EN ISO/IEC 17021-1:2015 + ISO/TS 22003:2013 for certification against ISO 22000:2005, a specific evaluation is required to establish the compliance with the specific requirements listed hereafter ; the relevant information will be included in the assessment report. EN ISO 17021:2011 (until 15.06.2017) or EN ISO/IEC 17021-1:2015 Clause 7.2 Personnel involved in the certification scheme Specific requirement of EA-3/11 and IAF MD 16 Accreditation for one or more Categories (see Annex A) confirms that the certification body has demonstrated competence to deliver certification for FSMS (e.g. ISO22000) in those Categories. For this reason, before granting accreditation for a specific Category, the accreditation body shall assess that: a) The certification body has competent personnel to perform the contract review and select the correct Category b) The certification body has defined Sectors inside each Category. These Sectors shall include, as a minimum, those included in Table A.1 in Annex A in ISO/TS 22003. c) The certification body has established technical criteria to describe the competence for auditors in each Sector (see Annex A Table A.1) d) The certification body has competent auditors in at least one Sector of the Category e) The certification body has established a process giving assurance that accredited certification will be offered only in Sectors where the certification body has competent auditors. f) The certification body keeps an updated list of the Sectors in which it has competent auditors. This list shall be available to the accreditation body on demand. BELAC 2-405-FSMS Rev 1-2017 - 6/8
5. SPECIFIC REQUIREMENTS APPLICABLE TO BELAC The following table includes the specific requirements of EA-3/11 Rev 00:2009 not explicitly covered by the general BELAC provisions for the accreditation of management systems certification bodies. EN ISO 17011:2004 and/or ref to BELAC documents Clause 7.5 : Preparation for assessment BELAC 3-11 EA-3/11 Rev 00:2009 and IAF MD 16 :2015 EA-3/11 Clause 4.1 Clause 4.2 Clause 4.3 IAF MD 16: MD 7.5.6.1 MD 7.5.6.2 MD 7.5.6.3 MD 7.5.6.4 MD 7.5.6.6 MD 7.5.6.7 Specific requirements Witnessing of audits: The activities in Annex A in ISO/TS 22003:2013 may be condensed in the following clusters1: 1. Farming (A+B) 2. Food and Feed Processing (C+D) 3. Retail, Transport and Storage (F,G) 4. Catering (E) 5. (Bio) Chemicals (K) 6. Auxiliary Services (H+I+J) BELAC shall not grant accreditation for a given category without at least one witnessing visit performed in the cluster. This is to say that if a certification body asks, for example, for accreditation for categories B and D, the accreditation body has to perform two witnessing visits. If the certification body asks for accreditation for C and D, one witnessing visit may be enough. These criteria are also applicable to extension of scopes. For extensions inside a cluster, witnessing is not mandatory. Witnessing is mandatory for extensions to categories in a new cluster. These requirements are minimum requirements (except for the cases described in 4.3 below). The accreditation body has to assess every individual case and decide if more witnessing is needed in specific situations. The accreditation body has to witness at least one audit in cluster 2 (if covered by the accredited scope of the certification body) as part of each surveillance or re-assessment and at least one audit in each of the other clusters during the accreditation cycle. A single witness audit could encompass different categories if the activities of the witnessed company and of the certification body justify it. BELAC 2-405-FSMS Rev 1-2017 - 7/8
For the initial accreditation and for the reassessment of the certification body in one or more categories, a witness of an initial certification audit, including stage 1, is highly recommended. At least one of the witness audits per accreditation cycle should include a stage 1 audit. Accreditation granted to the certification body in other food safety standards for categories in the same cluster should be taken into account when deciding which witness assessments need to be performed. In these cases BELAC may use witnessing performed in one of such schemes to substitute some, but not the majority, of the witness assessment activity. These cases shall be fully documented and justified by BELAC. 5.1. Regulatory Competent authorities: / 6. Presentation of the accreditation schedule: Accreditation assessments shall be against ISO/IEC 17021(-1) including the requirements of ISO/TS 22003. The accreditation document scope shall explicitly state that the accreditation is against ISO/IEC 17021:2011 (until 15.06.2017) or ISO/IEC 17021-1:2015 and ISO/TS 22003:2013. Accreditation bodies shall not grant accreditation to certify FSMS with any other standard. The Scope of accreditation shall be expressed according to one or more of the categories detailed in Annex A Table A.1 of ISO/TS 22003. The certification body must be able to demonstrate that it has at least one active application in the Category for which it is seeking accreditation. The certification body has established the procedure to handle applications for new sectors included in a category. BELAC 2-405-FSMS Rev 1-2017 - 8/8